Motion-picture machine.



J. KELLER.

MOTION PICTURE MACHINE.

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APP 1,232,326 Patented July 3, 1917.

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APPLICATION men mu: :9. l9|6 J KELLER.

MOTION PICTURE MACHINE.

APPLICAHON FILED JUNE 19. 916.

1,232,326. Patented July 3,1917.

4 SHEETS-SHEET -I1///////////////. \TIL g l I I IN V EN TOR. 55 fle/nmk .4 TTORNE Y JEREMIAH KELLER, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

MOTION-PICTURE MACHINE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented J u'ly 3, 1917.

Application filed June 19, 1916. Serial No. 104,418.

7 '0 all whom it may concern;

Be it known tlmt'I, JEREMIAH KELLER, it citizen of the United States, residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in MotionPictu're Me chines,- of which the following is aspecifics tion.

The present invention relates more particularly to certain devices for operating the shiftable doors, which are known as fireshutters, and which are used for the purpose of cutting off the light from the interior of the head of the projecting machine and preventing. it from acting upon the film while the film is not being drawn through the machine, and is consequently at rest,

The primary object of the invention is, to provide fire-doors, preferably two in num= bet, one-0f which will be actuated to open position by the movements of the mechanism that propels the film through the machine: The second door will be opened by the influence of two forces, first,- the tension ex crted on the film as it passes through the machine, and,- second, the wei ht of the cappiece which incloses the looped part of the film that lies above the casing of the head.

:Another' object of the invention is, to ar= range the mechanisms for controlling one of the fire-doors so that, should the tension be relieved from the film by breakage, or otherwise, the fire-door will close,- cutting oil the light from the film; or if the operator should open or leave open the cap which incloscs the looped part of the film, thus exposing the film,- the fire-door will close, cut; ting off the light from the film. And, further, should the above contingencies both occur at the same time, the fire-door will close, cutting off the light from the film.

Further objects of the invention sire,- to

utilize a member, moved when the machine is operated, as the power driven means for actuating the parts that move the fire-door controlled by the cap-piece and film tension to provide a shiftable member which will be actuated by this; movable member to open the fire-door; and to provide means for holding this shiftable member in engage ment with the movable member, which means will be controlled. directly by the tem sion exerted on the film as it asses through the machine, and also controlled directly by the weight of the cap-piece when it is moved to closed position.

Further objects of the invention are, to employ a motor which is capable of being used for operating the film feeding mechw nis'm; to provide aswitch for turningthis' motor on and off; to actuate this switch by the same means which controls the movement of the fire-door, whereby the starting of the motor is dependent upon the closing of the capiece and the presence of tension upon the film; to provide means for operating the film-feed mechanism by hand if desired; to establish a clutch connection between the main driving shaft and the crank usedin the hand operation, also 'a clutch connection between the main driving shaft and the gear actuated by the motor; and to so arrange these clutch mechanisms that both will impart movement to the driving shaft. But one clutch mechanism is not set in operation by the movement of the other; that is, when one clutch is working, the other is not exerting any clutching action.

And the invention further consists in the features of construction and combination of parts hereinafter described and claimed.

'In the drawings:

Figure 1 is a perspective of a motion picture machine head mounted upon a. film magazine and equipped with the mechanism of the present inventi n;

Fig. 2, a. view of the motor side of the casing, broken away to show the driving means from the motor;

Fig. 3-, a vertical section through the cars ing, showing the meansfor' acti'iating the fire-doors; v

Fig. 4, a section on line 4 A of Fig. 3', looking in the direction of the arrows, and with the film-feeding mechanism removed Fig. 5, a section on line 5-5 of Fig. 3 looking in the direction of the arrows;

Fig. the section on line 66 of Fig. 4, looking in the direction of the arrows;

Fig. 7, a section showing the clutch connection between the main driving shaft and the hand-operated means, and the main drivin sha-ft the motor-operated means,

ig. 8, a detail of the clutch connection hetween the main driving shaft and the hand-operated means;

Fig. 9, a detail of the clutch connection between the main driving shaft and the motor drivin means;

Fi 10, a etail showing the pin connectin tie sprocket 38 and pinion 39; and

ig. 11, asection of the sprockets 37 and 38 mounted on the shaft 36.

Inthe .construction shown, the casing or head 10, which carries the film-feeding and other operating mechanisms, is shown supported upon and connected to a film magazine 11, although the construction of the casing and the film magazines, together with the method of supporting the casing, is not material to the present invention. The casing, upon the outside thereof, is provided .with a film gate 12, which carries the usual lens 13. 'A motor casing 14 is provided; and extending from the casing and driven by the motor therein, is a vertically extending shaft 15, which carries a worm pinion 16 (see Fig.

2) inclosed within a suitable housing 17.

This housing also incloses a worm gear 18, with which the worm pinion 16 meshes; and this gear is connected to a main drive shaft 19 (see Fig. 7).

The means for effecting the connection between the drive shaft 19 and the worm gear 18 comprises-a sleeve 20, which is fixed to the shaft 19 by a pin 21, or otherwise. The sleeve 20 terminates in a notched head .22, the notches in which are eachof a taperformat-ion, as shown in Fig. 9. And located in thespaces formed by the notches in the head 22 and the wall 23 of an opening or recess in the gear 18 are a series of balls or rollers 24, held normally in forward projection by a spring 25. It will be apparent that as the gear is moved in the direction of the arrow m Fig. 9, the face 23 of the opening in the gear will tend to drag the balls or rollers toward the contracted end of the openings in which theylie, thus wcdging them between the lower face of the notches and the wall 23 of the opening in the gear 18, so that a clutch connection is formed between the gear and the head 20, and thus between the gear and the drive shaft 19.

To operate this shaft 19 by hand, acrank 26 is provided, which is joined in a suitable manner to a cap-piece 27; and connected to the shaft 19 by a pin 28, or otherwise, is a sleeve 29, terminating in a notched head 30 similar to the notched head 22. This head 30 is formed with notches 31 similar to the notches in the head 22; and interposed in the space formed by the notches between the head 30 and the inner face of the rim of the cap-piece 27 are a series of balls 32, held normally projected forward by a spring 33.

' It is obvious that when the cap-piece is moved in the direction of the arrow (Fig. 8) by the crank 26, it will tend to push the balls into the contracted portion of the space between the inner face of the cap-piece and the notched surface of the head 30, thus forming a. clutch connection between the head 30 and the cap-piece 27, and operating the shaft 19.

Now, assume that the shaft is being driven by the motor, the motion to the shaft 19 will be transmitted to the head 30. The cap-piece 27, however, will remain stationary. Therefore, the head 30 will simply revolve within the cap-piece, the balls 32 re maining in their normal position, since no preure is then placed upon them tending to'force-them toward the contracted portion of the space between the notched head and cap-piece. The movement of the head 30 alone will tend to throw the balls backward and into the enlargedportion of the space between the head 30 and cap-piece 27, so that they perform no clutching action. The same is true when the shaft 19 is revolved by hand. In that instance, the head 22 will be revolved and the gear 18 remain stationary, and thus no clutching action of the balls 24 will be manifest, so that no movement will be imparted to the gear 18 by the rotation of the head 22.

This shaft 19 drives what may be termed a master gear 34. This master gear meshes with a pinion 35 on a shaft 36, which shaft carries a film sprocket 3T fixed on the shaft and a take-up sprocket 38 loosely mounted on a sleeve 38", loose on said shaft. A gear 39 is carried by the sleeve 38. This gear 39 meshes with a gear 39", meshing with a gear 39", which meshes with a gear 39 attached to the sprocket 37. This connects the sprockets 37 and 38, whereby when the sprocket 37 is operated by movement of the shaft 36, the sprocket 37 moves in a reverse direction to the direction of movement of the sprocket One end face of the sprocket 38 is formed with holes to, through which extend,

with a sliding fit only, pins 41 connected to a. grooved collar or nut #12, which collar travels back and forth upon a threaded portion 43 of the sleeve .38". The function of this feature will be explained later.

A sleeve 36, which carries the sprocket 36, also carries a gear 44, which meshes with a pinion 45 driving a gear 46 on a shaft 47, w ich shaft carries a disk and pin member for operating a three-point star wheel 48, rotatin a shaft 49, to which is secured a main m-feeding sprocket 50. The gear 47 also actuates a gear 51, which in turn drives a train of gears 52, 53, 5st and 55 for rotating a film-shuttcr 56. The film-feeding operation and the film-shutter actuation are all described in my co-pcnding application Serial No. 104,419, filed June 19, 1916, for motion picture machines, and will not be gone into in detail in connection with the present case.

. Fig. 3)

Lying adjacent the master gear 34, and arranged to swing upon the shaft 19, is a plate-like member 57, which is provided with a finger 58 extending through a slot to the outside of the casing, and on the end of which finger is a weight 59' (see Fig. 5). This finger 58 extends through the opening of a forked end 60 (Fig. 6) of a pivoted arm 61 connected to a link 62, which is joined to a fire-shutter 63, pivoted upon a pin 64. This shutter 63, for convenience of descrip tion, will be termed the inner shutter. Upon this same pin 64: is pivoted a second fireshutter 65, which for descriptive purposes will be termed the outer shutter. This outer shutter is moved by a link 66 connected to a swinging arm 67, actuated by a rock-shaft 68* in a manner which will be hereinafter described.

The inner shutter 63, as has been explained, is operated by the movements of the finger 58 of the plate-like member 57. This member 57 is swungaso as to cause the finger 58 to actuate the arm 61 by means of a spring tension exerted on said member by a spring 68. This spring when moved forces the plate into frictional engagement with the face of the mastergear 34, so that the plate is shifted a short distance by the movement of the master gear, and when so shifted is held until the pressure of the spring 68 is released.

The spring 68 is of a lever character, the fulcrum of which is a threaded stem 69 (see This stem can be moved in and out by means of a thumb-nut 70, to adjust the initial tension of this spring. The upper end of the spring lies adjacent one arm 71 of a lever 72, which is pivoted upon a pin 73. Resting upon the other arm 74 of the lever is a headed stud 75, which lies in position to be engaged by a portion of the lower edge 76 of a cap-piece 77. This cappiece is pivoted upon a pin 78 (Fig. 5) to the upper side of the casing; and this cappiece covers the looped palt of the film which lies to the outside of the upper part of the head. The pin 73, to which the lever 72 is pivoted, is carried by an arm 78 pivoted at 7!). This arm is connected by a short link 80 to a lever 81, pivoted at 82, and carrying a pin 83 resting within the groove of the disk 42.

As previously explained, the disk 42 travels upon thethreaded surface 43 of the sleeve 38". Extending from the gear 39 is a pin or stud 38", which extends through a slot 38 in the end face 38 of the take-up sprocket 38. By means of the slot and pin. connection between the gear 39 and sprocket 38, there is obviously provided a. connection between the sleeve 38 and sprocket 38 which allows the sprocket to turn back and forth upon said sleeve.

Referring to Figs. 10 and 11, assume the the film starts traveling over the sprocket 38 to the take-up reel, the pull exerted by the take-up reel will produce a tension on the film. The force of this tension, which will be in the direction of the arrow in Fig. 10, will cause the sprocket 38 to swing on the sleeve 38' until the slot assumes the position shown by dotted lines in Fig. 10. This movement of the sprocket, which will be a partial rotation, will rotate the nut or collar 42 by reason of the connection between the nut 42 and sprocket 38 formed by the pins 41, causing this nut to travel on the threaded surface 43 in a direction toward the sprocket 38, the distance of travel being determined by the length of the slot 38, which determines the amount of rotative movement of the sprocket 38.

When the strain of the film is relieved from the sprocket 38 by any means whatsoever, the said sprocket will swing back until the slot 38 reaches the position shown in full lines in Fig. 10. This movement is in the reverse direction from the movement caused by the tension of the film on the sprocket, and such reverse movement will cause the nut 42 to travel back on the threaded surface 43 to the position shown in Fig. 3. When the pin 38 has assumed the position in the slot' 38 shown by dotted lines in Fig. 10, it will remain in such position by the take-up reel pulling down the film and keeping the sprocket 38 rotating in time with the gear The method of moving the nut back and forth having been explained, there remains to describe the effect of such movement. When the nut travels toward the sprocket 38, it pulls the arm 81, rocking it about its pivot 82, and straightening out the link 80, which raises the lowerend of the lever 78, rocking it about its pivot 79, and carrying the lever 71 bodily toward the right (see Fig. 3).

It has been previously explained that when. the cap 77 is lowered, the edge 76 strikes the stud 75 and depresses the arm 74 of the lever 72 throwing the arm 71 of said lever inward and toward the spring68. This moves the spring 68, putting a certain amount of tension upon the plate 57; and then when the arm 78 swings by movement of the disk 42, it bodily carries the lever 72 toward the right, thus increasing the pressure of the lever 72 upon the upper end of the spring 68, and throwing the lower end of the spring into firmer engagement with the plate 57. Thus, a sufiicient pressure is exerted on this plate to create a frictional connection between it and the master gear 34, whereby it is swung for a distance by the movement of the master gear and is held in swung position. It, however, requires both the bodily movement of this lever 72 and the depression of the arm 74: of said lever to move the spring 68 sufiiciently to eifect this frictional connection between the plate 57 and the master gear 34. Neither the bodily movement of the lever alone, nor the depression of the arm 74: by the button 75, will be sufficient to bring about a frictional connection between the master gear and the plate 57 to actuate said plate.

We have already seen how the movement of this plate 57 operates the outer fire-door 63. It follows, therefore, that this door cannot be opened and the light admitted to the interior of the machine unless the cappiece 77 is closed and the tension is present on the film. If the tension on the film should cease for any reason, the tension on the sprocket 38 will cease, so that the sprocket would-swing in the manner described, and the nut 42 would travel to the left (Fig. 3), on the threaded surface 43, moving the lever 81 into the posit-ion shown in Fig. 3, which would shift the lever 78 and move the lever 72 bodily to the left, or into the position shown in Fig. 3. This would release the spring '68 to the extent that the frictional. engagement between the plate 57 and the master gear 34. would be broken. \Vhereupon, the arm 58 of the plate would be moved downward by the weight 59, putting the arm 61 into the position shown in Fig. 6; and the outer fire-door 63 would be closed. Also, if the cap-piece 77 were not thrown down so as to cover the looped part of the film, the button 75 would not be depressed, and therefore the lever 72 would not be thrown into proper position to move the spring 68 and effect the frictional connection between the plate 57 and the master gear 34. Under this condition, the firedoor 63 would be closed and no light would be admitted to the interior of the head 10.

In operating the machine by electric mo tor, the switch for turning the motor on and off is connected to a rod 84, which has a bent end 85 lying in proximity (see Fi 5) to the hooked end 86 of a lever S'Qpivoted at 88. This lever lies adjacent the plate 57,-and when the plate is shifted, it rocks the lever, moving the hooked end 86, which shifts the rod 84, bringing the switch into position where it closes the circuit and the motor starts. When the plate 57 drops to close the fireshutter, it also shifts this lever 87 to the position shown in Fig.- 5. This brings the hooked end 86 into such relation to the bent end 85 of the rod 84 as to cause the switch to move and break the circuit, thus stopping the motor.

From the foregoing, it has bmn explained how the outer fire-door 63 is thrown to closed posltlon whenever the film breaks, or the end of the film is reached, or tension relieved therefrom in any other manner, and how it is thrown to closed position whenever the cap-piece 77 is not moved to closed position to cover the looped part of the film extending abovethe head of the machine. It has also been explained how, when either the tension is removed from the film, or the cap-piece left raised, or both, the motor will be automatically stopped.

Mention has been made of the inner firedoor 65, and it has been explained how this as actuated by the movements of the rockshaft 68. This rock-shaft is actuated by the movements of the film-shutter 89. This shutter is driven by the gearing 52, 54 and 55, as has been heretofore explained, and the rotation of it actuates a sleeve 90 carrying gravlty arms 91. These gravity arms .are provided with fingers 92 lying within a groove of a grooved collar 93; and lying within a second groove 94 of this grooved collar 93 is an arm 95 connected to the rock-shaft 68. As the shutter starts to revolve, it swings the arms 91 outward, moving the fingers 92 to pull the collar 93 to the left, in Fig. 3, which obviously moves the arms 9'; to rock the shaft 68, which moves the arm 67, actuating the link 66 to bring the outer shutter 65 away from the light aperture. Thus, three things must be present before light will be admitted to the interior of the head. The machine must be in operation; that is, the shutter and film-feeding mechanism must be running. This removes the fire-door 65. Then, in addition, there must be tension on the film; that is, it must be properly passing through the machine. And, lastly, the cappiece. must be closed so that the exposed part of the film is covered. In this manner it is impossible to admit light to the interior of the head unless the machine is properly working, and, as is well known, the admission of light to the film when the machine is not operating properly is what results in the explosion of the film, and the consequent "loss.

I claim:

1. In a motion picture machine, the combination of film-feeding and shutter-actuating mechanism, a fire-door, means for moving said fire-door away from the light aperture when said actuating mechanism is 0perated, a second fire-door, a cap-piece, and means controlled by the lowering of the cappiece and the presence of tension upon the film for moving the second fire-door away from the light aperture, substantially as described.

2. In a motion picture machine, the com bination of film-feeding and shutter actuating mechanism, a fire-door, means for moving said fire-door away from the light aperture when said actuating mechanism isoperated, a second fire-door, a cap-piece, means controlled by the lowering of the cap-piece and the presence of tension upon the film for moving the second fire-door away from the light aperture, a motor for actuating the film-feeding and shutter mechanism, a switch for the motor, and means governed by the movements of the second fire-door for actuating said switch to stop and start the motor, substantially as described.

3. In a motion picture machine, the combination of a cap-piece, a fire-door, and means controlled by the lowering of the cappiece and the presence of tension upon the film for moving said fire-door away from the light aperture, substantially as described.

a. In a motion picture machine, the combination of a. cap-piece, a fire'door, means controlled by the lowering of the cap-piece and the presence of tension upon the film for moving said fire-door away from the light aperture, a motor, a switch for the motor, and means governed by the movements of said fire-door for actuating said switch to stop and start the motor, substantially as described.

5. In a motion picture machine, the combination of a driven part, a fire-door, means operated by the driven part for opening the fire-door, a cap-piece, and means for establishing a connection between the fire-door moving means and said driven part controlled by the closing of the cap-piece and the presence of tension upon the film, substantially as described.

6. In a motion picture machine, the combination of a driven part, a fire-door, means for moving the fire-door, means for establishing a frictional connection between the fire-door moving means and said driven part, a cap-piece, and means controlled by the closing of the can-piece and the presence of tension upon the film for actuating themeans for establishing said frictional connection, substantially as described.

7 In a motion picture machine, the com bination of a. driven part, a fire-door, means for moving the fire-door, means for establishing a frictional connection between sald driven part and said firedoor moving means, a lever actuating said means for establishing the frictional connection, a cappiece, and said lever being actuated by the lowering of the cap-piece and the presence of tension upon the film, substantially as described.

8. In a motion picture machine, the combination of a driven part, a fire door, a tension member for establishing a connection between the fire-door moving means and said driven part, a cap-piece, and means controlled by the lowering of the cap-piece and the presence of tension upon the film for creating a pressure upon said tension member to establish the connection between said driven part and the fire-door moving means, substantially as described.

9. In a motion picture machine, the combination of a driven part, a fire-door, means for moving the fire-door, a tension member for establishing a frictional connection between said driven part and said fire-door moving means, a lever for exerting pressure on said tension member to establish said frictional connection, a crap-piece, and means for moving said lever controlled by the lowering of the cap-piece and the presence of tension upon the film, substantially as described.

10. In a motion picture machine, the combination of a driven part, a fire-door, a tension member for establishing a connection between the fire-door moving means and said driven part, a cap-piece, means controlled by the lowering of the cap-piece and the presence of tension upon the film for creating a pressure upon said tension member to establish the connection between said driven part and the fire-door moving means, and means for adjusting the normal pressure of the tension member, substantially as described.

11. In a motion picture machine, the combination of a driven part, a plate lying adjacent said driven part, means for establishing a frictional connection between said plate and said driven part, a fire-door, a connection between said plate and fire-door, a cap-piece, and means controlled by the lowering of the cap-piece and the presence of tension upon the film for actuating the means establishing said frictional connection, substantially as described.

12. In a motion picture machine, the combination of a driven part, a plate lying adjacent said driven part, means for establishing a frictional connection between said plate and said part, a fire.door, a connection between said plate and fire-door, a cap-piece, means controlled by the lowering of the cap-piece and the presence of tension upon the film for actuating the means establishing said frictional connection, a motor for operating the machine, a switch controlling the motor, and a connection between said plate and switch, substantially as described.

13. In a motion picture machine, the combination of a driven part, a shiftable plate lying adjacent said part, a tension member bearing on said plate, a cap-piece, means controlled by the lowering of the cap-piece and the presence of tension upon the. film. for shifting said tension member to hold said plate in frictional engagement with said driven part, a fire-door, and a connection between said plate and fire-door, substantially as described.

14. In a motion picture machine, the combination of a driven part, a shiftable late lying adjacent said driven part, a pivoteftension member bearing against said plate, a.

lever having one end bearing against one end of the tension member, a cap-piece, and means controlled by the lowering of the cap-piece and the presence of tension upon the film for shifting said lever, and said lever when shifted moving the tension member to establish a frictional connection between said plate and the member to which it is lying adjacent, a fire-door, and a connection between said plate and fire-door, substantially as described.

15. In a motion picture machine, the combination of a driven part, a shiftable plate lying adjacent said driven part, a pivoted tension member adjacent said plate, a lever having one end bearing against one end of the tension member, a stud bearing against the other end of the lever, a cap-piece adapted to engage and move said stud when lowered, means moved by the presence of tension upon the film, a connection between said means and said lever, said lever when moved by said stud and said means under control of the film tension shifting said tension member to establish a frictional connection between said plate and said driven part, a fire-door, and a connection between said plate and fire-door, substantially as described.

16. In a motion picture machine, the combination of a driven part, a member lying adjacent said part, a fire-door, a connection between said member and fire-door, a cappiece, shiftable means controlled b the presence of tension upon the film, shlftable means for establishing a connection between the fire-door movin means and said driven part, means controfied by the lowering of the cap-piece for efi'ectin a partial shifting of said connection estab ishing means, and said connection establishing means being moved to full shifted position by the movement of the means controlled by the film tension, substantially as described.

17 In a motion picture machine, the combination of a driven art, a fire-door, means for moving the fireoor, means for establishing a frictional connection between the fire-door moving means and said driven part, a cap-piece, means controlled by the closing of the cap-piece and the presence. of tension upon the film for actuating the means for establishing said frictional connection, a motor, a switch controlling said motor, and a connection between said firedoor moving means and switch, substantially as described.

18. In a motion picture machine, the combination of a driven part, a fire-door, a ten sion member for establishing a connection between the fire-door moving means and said driven part, a cap-piece, means controlled by the lowerin of the cap-piece and the presence of tension upon the film for creating a pressure upon said tension member to establish the connection between said driven part and the fire-door moving means, a motor, a switch controlling the motor, and a connection between said fire-door moving means and switch, substantially as described.

19. In a motion picture machine, the combination of a driven part, a shiftable plate lying adjacent said driven part, a pivoted tension member adjacent said plate, a lever having one end bearing against one end of the tension member, a stud bearing against the other end of the lever, a cap-piece adapted to engage and move said stud when lowered, means moved by the presence of tension upon the film, a connection between said means and said lever, said lever when moved by said stud and said means under control of the film tension shifting said tension member to establish a frictional connection between said plate and said driven part, a fire-door, a connection between said plate and fire-door, a motor, a switch controlling the motor, and a connection between said plate and switch, substantially as described.

20. In a motion picture machine, the combination of a driven part, a fire-door, means for moving the fire-door, means for establishing a connection between said driven part and said fire-door moving means, a cappiece, means for partially actuating, said connection establishing means by the lowering of the cap-piece, a film sprocket swung a predetermined distance about its axial center by the tension of the film thereon, and means actuated by the swinging of said sprocket for completing and actuation of said connection establishing means, substantially as described.

JEREMIAH KELLER.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents eacli, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. 0. 

